Session Information
04 SES 10 A, Moving Beyond Access, Providing Access for Minority Students in Higher Education
Research Workshop
Contribution
Context
Education has a great role to play in the integration of migrants and ethnic minorities, and integration is a key component to achieving the overall Lisbon Objectives in terms of employment, enterprise and social cohesion. In 2005, the world counted 191 million immigrants, of which 21% (about 41 million) were hosted in the European Union. This represents 8.6 % of the EU population (The EU Immigration policy, October 2006). Alongside the increase in immigrants’ numbers, the number of ‘sending’ countries has also increased, which has resulted in a new ‘super-diversity’ in Europe, with many disparate communities composed of small groups of many different nationalities.
The challenge for the Netherlands for the next decade is to construct a society where social cohesion, fully- fledged social participation by everyone and the optimal development of talents is central. Only then is it possible to complete in a global economy. A general increase in the level of education is necessary.
A larger participation in higher education is only possible if it can build on a broad and substantial foundation from primary and secondary school education. As it now stands, too much talent is lost (i.e. dropouts) over the course of a school career. Too many pupils prematurely leave school, are unjustly steered towards lower forms of secondary education and do not matriculate into higher education and consequently fall by the roadside. This pattern is particularly true when involving ethnic minority pupils. While the participation of ethnic minorities in higher education is growing at “rap” tempo, we have not yet caught up with the backlog.
The participation in higher education in the past decade has increased sharply. From those born in 1988 it is expected that by the year 2011 50 percent will participate in some phase of higher education. At the moment, the percentage of higher educated in the labour force stands at 31 percent. This put the Netherlands in the middle group of countries in the Organization of European States.
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Over the years that were measured, the proportion of (Western and non-Western) ethnic minority students entering higher education rose to nearly 30 per cent of the total number of first-year students. In the university sector this figure is a few percentage points higher; in HBO (higher professional education) it is slightly less.
The dropout rate among non-western ethnic minority students is considerably higher than that of native students. It has been proven, in the other projects, that the experiences gained during teaching practice are cause for dropping out of one’s studies
The Debating questions
How to facilitate access of minority students to higher education: what are the barriers preventing minority students from entry to university colleges that do not relate to academic ability or motivation? How to tackle dropouts ofminority students? What are the obstacles? How are these obstacles addressed by the university colleges? What needs to be done to widen the participation of minority students in universities?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Qec ERAN European Regeneration Areas Network Address: Rue Vieux Marché aux Grains 48, B-1000 Brussels Flanders Tel: 00 32 252 44 545, www.qec-eran.org Contact person: Dr. Haroon Saad, hsaad@qec-eran.org Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussels (HUBrussel), Address:Stormstraat 2, B-1000 Brussel Flanders Tel: 00 32 221 01 609, www.hubrussel.be Contact person: Mrs. Griet Blieck, griet.blieck@hubrussel.be Un Mestiere Antico Nuova Opportunità, U.MA.N.O Address: Via Daverio, 7 - 20122 Milano Tel: 02-5796831 -www.umanitaria.it Contact person: Giampaolo Cavallo, e-mail: giampaolo_cavallo@hotmail.com Council for Opportunity in Education Address:1025 Vermont Ave, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005 Tel:00 1 202 347 7430, www.coenet.us Contact person: Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem
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